'Everything I own is in that house - or was...'

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Mike Genetmike.genet@examiner.net

Independence firefighters battled a one-alarm blaze that gutted an east side house Wednesday night.

Daniel Parden said he has lived at 2820 East R. D. Mize Road, which sits on a gravel road off a bend in R. D. Mize, for five years. He was not at home at the time the fire started but was working at another property owned by his landlord, he said.

“Everything I own is in that house – or was, other than my tools,” he said.

A neighbor said Parden lives alone at the two-story house.

Independence Fire Department Captain David Sellars said the first crews on the scene estimated the house was 80 percent involved with the fire upon arrival and did not know if anyone was inside.

After knocking down the fire enough to do an initial search, they found nobody inside. The cause is undetermined, though Sellars said he believes the fire started on the first floor. His early assessment was the house probably would be a total loss.